The differences between schools in affluent neighborhoods and those in areas of poverty are striking and obvious. The challenges for those leaders seem different and somewhat clear. The tax-base of the two communities provide for a difference in the educational environment. Parental involvement, socio economic status and expectations differ widely. The leaders and the teachers may be equally committed to hard work providing the best experience for the students, but the buildings and the supplies and educational programs often are very different.

The students arrive with a different set of learning and social emotional needs. The job facing the leaders of schools who have a diverse population of students, including affluence and poverty is not only gap closing, but raising the expectations for achievement for all - and 'all' means working with students with vast differences in readiness and readiness to learn. Whether a suburban school in an affluent neighborhood, or an inner city school in a poverty area, or a school inclusive of both...what if we looked at equity through a curriculum lens? Literacy is the common denominator.

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